Top 5 IT Trends of 2015.

The Internet of Things is the network of physical objects or “things” embedded within electronics, software, sensors, and network connectivity. They enable these objects to collect and exchange data. The Internet of Things allows objects to be sensed and controlled remotely across existing network infrastructures, creating opportunities for more direct integration between the physical world and computer-based systems. 2015 has seen a drastic increase in this network as the amount of “smart machines” available increases.

2. Smart Machines

The robots are here,” Dr. Roman V. Yampolskiy told a packed room at Idea Festival 2015 in Louisville, Kentucky. “You may not see them every day, but we know how to make them. We fund research to design them…It’s in your phones, your cars. It’s Google. It’s every bit of technology we’re using.”

This trend is growing more and more but also how we use it is changing. Particularly in household applications where people are controlling the heating and what they record on television from their phone or maybe their watch now. When you combine the internet of things and smart machines, will 2016 see this trend continue to the point of your fridge texting you to pick up milk?

3. 3D Printing

3D printing (or additive manufacturing) is a process of making three dimensional solid objects from a digital file. The creation of a 3D printed object is achieved using additive processes. In an additive process an object is created by laying down successive layers of material until the entire object is created. Each of these layers can be seen as thinly sliced horizontal cross-sections of the eventual object.

2015 has seen a dramatic increase in its application to mass production using this technology. One area that will continue to follow this trend into 2016 is the medical industry, we’ve already witnessed everything from skull and facial implants to low-cost prosthetics to replacement windpipes, but I expect the year ahead will be filled with fresh ideas.

4. Cloud tech

Internet-based computing is where shared resources, data and information are provided to computers and other devices on-demand. It is a model for enabling universal, on-demand access to a shared pool of computing resources.

Cloud computing and storage solutions provide users with various capabilities to store and process their data in third-party data centres. This cloud computing has been a significant trend for several years and its transformative impact on IT operations and technology shows no signs of abating. In 2016, it’s highly likely to take another big step forward.

5. Smog Cleaning Tower

Moving more towards the environment and how technology can have a positive impact Artist Daan Roosegaarde and nanoparticle researcher Bob Ursem co-designed a 23-foot tower, installed in Rotterdam, that sucks in air, filters air pollutants and expels cleaned air back to the outdoors.

The two hope their idea will help cities such as Beijing fight smog.

“We’ve installed it in a parking garage here in the Netherlands and it sucks and cleans both the inside and outside air,” Ursem says. “Inside the parking garage, the air became 70% cleaner.” With nations pooling their resources to decrease their carbon footprint will 2016 see more innovative uses of technology like this?